Best Practices for School Safety to Prevent School Shootings

High-profile school shootings provoke public outcry and calls for policy responses to gun violence in schools. However, policy makers face pressure from diverse stakeholders with distinct agendas, and in some areas, there is little empirical research to guide policy makers’ decisions. Active shooter drills are one such example of a hotly debated policy response in need of further study. As a preliminary step to filling this research gap, this mixed-methods study investigated how school districts in Florida have implemented active shooter drills following legislation passed after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida. We analyzed school safety specialists’ perceptions and reports of drill procedures and their alignment with best practices. The majority of the districts surveyed aligned with Best Practices established by the National Association of School Psychologists and National Association of School Resource Officers. Implications for future research and considerations for the implementation of active shooter drills are discussed.

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Public Support for Policies to Reduce School Shootings: A Moral-Altruistic Model

Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency ◽

10.1177/0022427820953202 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 002242782095320

Author(s):

Alexander L. Burton ◽

Justin T. Pickett ◽

Cheryl Lero Jonson ◽

Francis T. Cullen ◽

Velmer S. Burton

Keyword(s):

Public Opinion ◽

School Safety ◽

Public Support ◽

School Shootings ◽

Mass Murder ◽

Gun Control ◽

School Crime ◽

Moral Intuitions ◽

The Public ◽

Altruistic Fear

Objectives: The recurring mass murder of students in schools has sparked an intense debate about how best to increase school safety. Because public opinion weighs heavily in this debate, we examine public views on how best to prevent school shootings. We theorize that three moral-altruistic factors are likely to be broadly relevant to public opinion on school safety policies: moral intuitions about harm, anger about school crime, and altruistic fear. Methods: We commissioned YouGov to survey 1,100 Americans to explore support for a range of gun control and school programming policies and willingness to pay for school target hardening. We test the ability of a moral-altruistic model to explain public opinion, while controlling for the major predictors of gun control attitudes found in the social sciences. Results: The public strongly supports policies that restrict who can access guns, expand school anti-bullying and counseling programs, and target-harden schools. While many factors influence attitudes toward gun-related policies specifically, moral-altruistic factors significantly increase support for all three types of school safety policies. Conclusions: The public favors a comprehensive policy response and is willing to pay for it. Support for prevention efforts reflects moral intuitions about harm, anger about school crime, and altruistic fear.

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Preventing School Shootings: The Interprofessional and Community Approach to Prevention

Journal of Social Change ◽

10.5590/josc.2020.12.1.04 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Heather C Alonge ◽

Constant P Craig

Keyword(s):

Law Enforcement ◽

School Safety ◽

National Level ◽

The United States ◽

School Shootings ◽

School Level ◽

Current Status ◽

School Design ◽

Safety Issues ◽

Community Approach

This essay examined the issue of school shootings within the United States, to include a literature review and analysis of the current status of the issue on a national level. From the review and analysis, the essay provides the multidisciplines engaged in school safety issues with viable, workable, and quickly implementable solutions to address this serious national issue at the local school district and even school level of implementation. This analysis examined a multidiscipline and multiprofessional community approach using existing federal guidelines that address actionable intelligence (social media and human information/informants), school design and incorporation of safety and protective features, involvement of law enforcement on campuses, and engagement of law enforcement with administrators and educators. Most importantly, it provides awareness to educators, administrators, and law enforcement along with the general public that the attitude of “It can’t happen here” can indeed and way too many times it has “happened here.”

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Building Stronger Connections Among Students, Families, and Schools to Promote School Safety

10.4018/978-1-7998-5200-1.ch001 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 1-14

Author(s):

Monica Bixby Radu ◽

Kristen N. Sobba ◽

Sarah A. Kuborn ◽

Brenda Prochaska

Keyword(s):

Social Capital ◽

Behavioral Problems ◽

School Safety ◽

School Shootings ◽

Safe Schools ◽

Public Attention ◽

Safe School ◽

The Public ◽

Bridging Social Capital ◽

Prior Literature

Safe schools help promote positive social, academic, and educational outcomes. Research consistently suggests that students tend to be most successful in schools where they feel safe. For example, prior literature establishes that when students attend safe schools, they are more likely to graduate from high school compared to students who attend schools with behavioral problems or safety concerns. Over the last three decades, school shootings have garnered increased public attention, and the public has a heightened awareness that not all schools are safe environments for students. Drawing from ecological systems theory, this chapter will examine how the bonds between students and their schools are important for creating a school culture that is safe, inclusive, and supports the success of all students. Bridging social capital between families and schools also helps foster a safe school atmosphere, where students can focus on their academic and social development.

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Supporting Students Following Crises and Natural Disasters

Supporting and Educating Traumatized Students ◽

10.1093/med-psych/9780190052737.003.0016 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 295-310

Author(s):

Benjamin S. Fernandez

Keyword(s):

Best Practices ◽

Learning Environment ◽

Natural Disasters ◽

Psychological Functioning ◽

School Safety ◽

Traumatic Events ◽

School Community ◽

Safety Planning ◽

Crisis Communications ◽

Careful Planning

Acute traumatic events have the potential to significantly disrupt the learning environment as well as the psychological functioning of students, staff, and the school community. Such events range in size and intensity, though all require careful planning to address the comprehensive safety and recovery needs of a school. Such planning includes considerations of prevention and preparedness, establishing crisis teams and crisis communications, and the selection and delivery of appropriate interventions given demonstrated need. This chapter discusses best practices in school safety planning and approaches to recovery after an incident to address crisis-generated problems, prevent trauma, and help restore the learning environment.

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School Safety Beyond School Shootings

Eye on Psi Chi Magazine ◽

10.24839/2164-9812.eye23.2.30 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 30-33

Author(s):

Eric Rossen

Keyword(s):

School Safety ◽

School Shootings

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Fear vs. Threat, School Shootings and Violence

10.4018/978-1-7998-5200-1.ch003 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 39-52

Author(s):

Stephen Benigno

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

School Culture ◽

School Safety ◽

Community Outreach ◽

School Shootings ◽

School Shooting ◽

Decision Making Process ◽

Administrative Roles ◽

Safe School ◽

Roles And Responsibilities

The first recorded school shooting took place in Charlottesville, Virginia on November 12, 1840. The most recent school shooting took place on July 11, 2019 in Hartford, Connecticut. Over 500 school shootings have taken place since the Charlottesville incident. Sadly, school shootings are not an anomaly to many communities in America. Administrators, and particularly principals, are faced with significant challenges in creating an environment that is conducive to the development of a productive and safe school culture. The content of this manuscript will explore the existing administrative roles and responsibilities with respect to school safety and the implementation and supervision of those procedures. Also discussed in the manuscript will be the role that fear plays in the decision making process and how some decisions may be misplaced and could be redirected toward more favorable areas of emphasis (i.e., counseling, active supervision, alternative academic options, community outreach, and inclusive student opportunities).

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State Firearm Laws, Gun Ownership, and K-12 School Shootings: Implications for School Safety

Journal of School Violence ◽

10.1080/15388220.2021.2018332 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 1-15

Author(s):

Paul M. Reeping ◽

Louis Klarevas ◽

Sonali Rajan ◽

Ali Rowhani-Rahbar ◽

Justin Heinze ◽

...

Keyword(s):

School Safety ◽

School Shootings ◽

Gun Ownership ◽

K 12

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A is for Apple, B is for Bulletproof: The racialized fortification of schools

10.31235/osf.io/8ub6a ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sarah Woulfin ◽

James Sadler

Keyword(s):

Agency Theory ◽

Education System ◽

School Safety ◽

School Shootings ◽

Gun Violence ◽

School Security ◽

Safety Policy ◽

Research And Practice ◽

Security Industry ◽

The U.S

From Colorado and Connecticut to Florida, school shootings have struck the U.S. education system, accelerating and deepening the fortification of schools. Fortification entails prioritizing and instituting multiple types of infrastructure, technology, and routines that militarize schools while defining 'safety' as a function of the building and framing educators as responders to gun violence. The school security industry is now a $2.7 billion market, so it is vital to comprehend the structures, policies, conceptualizations, resources, and activities linked with school safety. We apply structure-agency theory to advance arguments on the fortification of schools. In particular, we explain the interrelation between racialized school safety policies and practices. Thus, we highlight educators’ discretion in enacting safety policy in varied contexts. Our discussion of fortification sheds light on the nexus of guns and schools, operationalizes facets of structure-agency theory, and provides recommendations for research and practice.

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School Safety, Victimization, and Bullying

Encyclopedia of Social Work ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.013.1194 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Ronald Pitner ◽

Hadass Moore ◽

Gordon Capp ◽

Aidyn Iachini ◽

Ruth Berkowitz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Best Practices ◽

School Violence ◽

School Safety ◽

School Social Workers ◽

School Staff ◽

Systematic Monitoring ◽

Staff Members ◽

Whole School ◽

Empirically Supported ◽

Safer Schools

This article focuses on socio-ecological and whole-school approaches to coping with school violence, while highlighting best practices for selecting, developing, and monitoring interventions. We present several empirically supported programs, followed by identified characteristics of successful interventions and considerations on selecting an appropriate program for a particular school. Finally, we discuss the systematic monitoring method and approach and its utility in creating safer schools while emphasizing the contextual features and the nested environment in which schools reside. We suggest manners in which the systematic monitoring approach can be considered, advocated, and implemented by school staff members, particularly school social workers.

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